Managing an online classroom is significantly different than managing a traditional face-to-face classroom. Along with subject matter mastery, both students and instructors must become technology masters. And to complicate matters, face-to-face pedagogy does not transfer neatly into online learning environments, particularly when courses are "asynchronous" - meaning that students engage in the coursework at different times, rather than showing up for a "live" online class or "webinar." This presentation addresses a number of issues that arise in online classroom management. Here are Chickering and Gamson's Seven Principals of Good Online Practice: Table 1. Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, Chickering and Gamson (1986) http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall63/hutchins63.html 1. Encourage contact between students and faculty: Frequent student-faculty contact both in and outside of class is an important factor in student motivation and involvement. 2. Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students: Faculty should create and encourage opportunities for collaborative learning among students. 3. Encourages active learning: Faculty should require students to apply their learning in oral and written forms. 4. Give prompt feedback: Faculty should provide appropriate and prompt feedback on performance. Students need help assessing their current competence and performance, and need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestion for improvement. Such feedback should be an ongoing process in collegiate settings. 5. Emphasize time on task: Faculty should create opportunities for students to practice good time management. This includes setting realistic time for students to complete assignments as well as using class time for learning opportunities. 6. Communicate high expectations: Faculty should set and communicate high expectations for students. Such becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for students and they often will rise to meet the challenge. 7. Respect diverse talents and ways of learning: Faculty should create learning opportunities that appeal to the different ways students will process and attend to information. Varying presentation style and assignment requirement will allow students to showcase their unique talents and learn in ways that work for them Time Management & Boundaries: It is difficult to recruit and retain educators. So while online learning is a huge benefit for the students, if we, as the instructors, cannot manage the educational format in a manner that is conducive to our lives, chances are we will no longer choose to teach. Am I stating that as faculty we take a “my way or the highway” stance? Absolutely not. Rather, this online relationship has to be reciprocal. I will host my class at a time that is mutually convenient for me and my students. However, these are the acceptable methods of communication with me outside the “classroom setting” (please insert your own thoughts here these are examples only):
I will not receive/send text messages.
You may contact me by phone at my office number ------- or at --------- (cell maybe?)
Online communication at the following e-mail address -----------. I check e-mail three times daily and will answer your questions within 24 hours. If something is urgent, please indicate so and I will answer immediately.
My “office hours” are on ------- and -------- from ------ to --------. During this time, I am available by phone at -------- , e-mail or through Skype at --------.
I am fearful that we are tail chasing when it comes to online learning. It seems as though things are never “done”, but only in varying degrees of “behind-ness”. We are only human. We cannot be everywhere all the time. It is my humble opinion that we are available, but on our terms. This is not meant to be at anyone’s exclusion, but more to maintain our sense of organization and control, which (hopefully) ultimately leads to increased job satisfaction.
Encouraging student self-initiative: In order to promote student engagement and set-up realistic expectations for student involvement, it's important to reiterate to the students that is is expected that they will spend between two to three hours each week per credit hour. Therefore, if the students are taking a three credit hour course, than they should expect to spend six to nine hours per course, or between eighteen to twenty-five hours per week if full-time. Being sure expectations are discussed up front can help decrease the students' frustrations when faced with time management issues. Giving suggestions on how to manage the time commitment is helpful. For example, recommending the student set time aside each week for "class" and then an hour or so every other night/day can help manage time effectively.
This study - which really only looks at a limited group of students, suggests that student investment is less commital for online learners. Anecdotally, I haven't found that. I'm hoping for feedback from the group: http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter54/Quershi54.htm
From the following article about the importance of assessment to online student performance: "The evidence from both courses described here confirms that more students will participate in online collaborative activities if they are linked to assessment, and that such assignments may also have a positive effect on the quality and coverage of the online debate itself."http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.84.6688&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Macdonald, J. (2003). Assessing online collaborative learning: process and product. Computers & Education, 40(4), 377-391. Discussion Board Facilitation & Moderation: Students may vary in their expectation of faculty involvement in the Discussions board or Blog. Again, it is important to be up front with not only your expectation of their participation, but what they can expect of you as well. I share this statement with my students at the beginning of the semester as a permanent Announcement (to refer to later) and in the Wimba course introduction session. "I want to share with you the rationale for my method of participating in the discussions. For the most part, I will wait until most of you have had a chance to read and respond to your peers' postings. That way, the thread doesn't become a dialogue between myself and the students. The focus is kept on encouraging a dialogue between you, the learners (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek, 2008). As you'll notice, I monitor the discussions and will point out comments you make that I want to emphasize to the group. Therefore, please take the time to look back on my comments on the discussion board even though the discussion has officially closed for group dialogue."
Thanks! Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M. J., and Zvacek, S. (Eds.) (2008). Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education (4th edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Here is an entire book on e-moderating, free of charge: http://cosic.com.ba/pdf/emoderating.pdf Instructor Roles Online vs FtF: "Instructors' roles appear to change from lecturing to facilitating.... in two critical areas: Feedback and personalized learning focus. Instructors, .... as facilitators, need to become more active in providing appropriate and timely feedback to students. Instructors would have more information to process in Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) than in FtF classes.....Instructors would have more information to attend to as the volume of information in a CMC class outnumbers FtF. Therefore a strong commitment is required on the instructor's part to provide feedback to students' inquiries in order to maintain the flow of interaction. The need to facilitate active and meaningful participation among students may also require instructors to moderate interactions. That is, the instructor must engage in reflecting, paraphrasing, summarizing, and other activities to bring the class discussion into focus and to clarify guidelines for interaction." (Comeaux, p. 157) As we have all learned but this book could be used as a reference any new technology causes fear and anxiety for both the students and the instructors. But as we all know even if it is the best technology available we always need a plan B because something inevitably will happen and the instructor needs to be flexible. More Articles of Interest: http://www.umuc.edu/distance/odell/ctla/resources/bestpractices.pdf http://cnx.org/content/col10453/latest/ http://www.usaoll.org/node/251 Building Learning Communities In Cyberspace.doc https://blackboard.umkc.edu/@@/5D7F7FCF51662D2C71DB9F4E8B477B22/courses/1/TEGPILOT-UMKC-IA-EACAD103-004/db/_247326_1/Instructional%20Science%2028.doc https://blackboard.umkc.edu/@@/5D7F7FCF51662D2C71DB9F4E8B477B22/courses/1/TEGPILOT-UMKC-IA-EACAD103-004/db/_247329_1/JALN%20Volume%206.doc Useful Books Hanna, D.E., Glowacki-Dudka, M., Conceicao-Runlee, S. (2000). 147 Practical Tips for Teaching Online Groups. Madison WI: Atwood Publishing Comeaux, P. (2005). Assessing Online Learning. Bolton, MA. Anker Publishing Company
Managing the Online Classroom
Managing an online classroom is significantly different than managing a traditional face-to-face classroom. Along with subject matter mastery, both students and instructors must become technology masters. And to complicate matters, face-to-face pedagogy does not transfer neatly into online learning environments, particularly when courses are "asynchronous" - meaning that students engage in the coursework at different times, rather than showing up for a "live" online class or "webinar." This presentation addresses a number of issues that arise in online classroom management.
Here are Chickering and Gamson's Seven Principals of Good Online Practice:
Table 1. Seven Principles of Good Practice in Undergraduate Education, Chickering and Gamson (1986) http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/fall63/hutchins63.html
1. Encourage contact between students and faculty: Frequent student-faculty contact both in and outside of class is an important factor in student motivation and involvement.
2. Develop reciprocity and cooperation among students: Faculty should create and encourage opportunities for collaborative learning among students.
3. Encourages active learning: Faculty should require students to apply their learning in oral and written forms.
4. Give prompt feedback: Faculty should provide appropriate and prompt feedback on performance. Students need help assessing their current competence and performance, and need frequent opportunities to perform and receive suggestion for improvement. Such feedback should be an ongoing process in collegiate settings.
5. Emphasize time on task: Faculty should create opportunities for students to practice good time management. This includes setting realistic time for students to complete assignments as well as using class time for learning opportunities.
6. Communicate high expectations: Faculty should set and communicate high expectations for students. Such becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy for students and they often will rise to meet the challenge.
7. Respect diverse talents and ways of learning: Faculty should create learning opportunities that appeal to the different ways students will process and attend to information. Varying presentation style and assignment requirement will allow students to showcase their unique talents and learn in ways that work for them
Time Management & Boundaries:
It is difficult to recruit and retain educators. So while online learning is a huge benefit for the students, if we, as the instructors, cannot manage the educational format in a manner that is conducive to our lives, chances are we will no longer choose to teach. Am I stating that as faculty we take a “my way or the highway” stance? Absolutely not. Rather, this online relationship has to be reciprocal. I will host my class at a time that is mutually convenient for me and my students. However, these are the acceptable methods of communication with me outside the “classroom setting” (please insert your own thoughts here these are examples only):
- I will not receive/send text messages.
- You may contact me by phone at my office number ------- or at --------- (cell maybe?)
- Online communication at the following e-mail address -----------. I check e-mail three times daily and will answer your questions within 24 hours. If something is urgent, please indicate so and I will answer immediately.
- My “office hours” are on ------- and -------- from ------ to --------. During this time, I am available by phone at -------- , e-mail or through Skype at --------.
I am fearful that we are tail chasing when it comes to online learning. It seems as though things are never “done”, but only in varying degrees of “behind-ness”. We are only human. We cannot be everywhere all the time. It is my humble opinion that we are available, but on our terms. This is not meant to be at anyone’s exclusion, but more to maintain our sense of organization and control, which (hopefully) ultimately leads to increased job satisfaction.Encouraging student self-initiative:
In order to promote student engagement and set-up realistic expectations for student involvement, it's important to reiterate to the students that is is expected that they will spend between two to three hours each week per credit hour. Therefore, if the students are taking a three credit hour course, than they should expect to spend six to nine hours per course, or between eighteen to twenty-five hours per week if full-time. Being sure expectations are discussed up front can help decrease the students' frustrations when faced with time management issues. Giving suggestions on how to manage the time commitment is helpful. For example, recommending the student set time aside each week for "class" and then an hour or so every other night/day can help manage time effectively.
This study - which really only looks at a limited group of students, suggests that student investment is less commital for online learners. Anecdotally, I haven't found that. I'm hoping for feedback from the group: http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter54/Quershi54.htm
From the following article about the importance of assessment to online student performance: "The evidence from both courses described here confirms that more students will participate in online collaborative activities if they are linked to assessment, and that such assignments may also have a positive effect on the quality and coverage of the online debate itself." http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.84.6688&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Macdonald, J. (2003). Assessing online collaborative learning: process and product. Computers & Education, 40(4), 377-391.
Discussion Board Facilitation & Moderation:
Students may vary in their expectation of faculty involvement in the Discussions board or Blog. Again, it is important to be up front with not only your expectation of their participation, but what they can expect of you as well. I share this statement with my students at the beginning of the semester as a permanent Announcement (to refer to later) and in the Wimba course introduction session.
"I want to share with you the rationale for my method of participating in the discussions. For the most part, I will wait until most of you have had a chance to read and respond to your peers' postings. That way, the thread doesn't become a dialogue between myself and the students. The focus is kept on encouraging a dialogue between you, the learners (Simonson, Smaldino, Albright, and Zvacek, 2008). As you'll notice, I monitor the discussions and will point out comments you make that I want to emphasize to the group. Therefore, please take the time to look back on my comments on the discussion board even though the discussion has officially closed for group dialogue."
Thanks!
Simonson, M., Smaldino, S., Albright, M. J., and Zvacek, S. (Eds.) (2008). Teaching and Learning at a Distance: Foundations of Distance Education (4th edition). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Here is an entire book on e-moderating, free of charge: http://cosic.com.ba/pdf/emoderating.pdf
Instructor Roles Online vs FtF:
"Instructors' roles appear to change from lecturing to facilitating.... in two critical areas: Feedback and personalized learning focus. Instructors, .... as facilitators, need to become more active in providing appropriate and timely feedback to students. Instructors would have more information to process in Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) than in FtF classes.....Instructors would have more information to attend to as the volume of information in a CMC class outnumbers FtF. Therefore a strong commitment is required on the instructor's part to provide feedback to students' inquiries in order to maintain the flow of interaction. The need to facilitate active and meaningful participation among students may also require instructors to moderate interactions. That is, the instructor must engage in reflecting, paraphrasing, summarizing, and other activities to bring the class discussion into focus and to clarify guidelines for interaction." (Comeaux, p. 157)
As we have all learned but this book could be used as a reference any new technology causes fear and anxiety for both the students and the instructors. But as we all know even if it is the best technology available we always need a plan B because something inevitably will happen and the instructor needs to be flexible.
More Articles of Interest:
http://www.umuc.edu/distance/odell/ctla/resources/bestpractices.pdf
http://cnx.org/content/col10453/latest/
http://www.usaoll.org/node/251
Building Learning Communities In Cyberspace.doc
https://blackboard.umkc.edu/@@/5D7F7FCF51662D2C71DB9F4E8B477B22/courses/1/TEGPILOT-UMKC-IA-EACAD103-004/db/_247326_1/Instructional%20Science%2028.doc
https://blackboard.umkc.edu/@@/5D7F7FCF51662D2C71DB9F4E8B477B22/courses/1/TEGPILOT-UMKC-IA-EACAD103-004/db/_247329_1/JALN%20Volume%206.doc
Useful Books
Hanna, D.E., Glowacki-Dudka, M., Conceicao-Runlee, S. (2000). 147 Practical Tips for Teaching Online Groups. Madison WI: Atwood Publishing
Comeaux, P. (2005). Assessing Online Learning. Bolton, MA. Anker Publishing Company